Singularity

This is a long piece and many of you may not read it to its completion, but, it is in many ways the most important blog entry I have made thus far. Read it please. Share it with as many friends and acquaintances as you can. We desperately need a dialogue about SINGULARITY .

What I am about to discuss has transcendence through all of society, geographies, people, and philosophies. I want to head off at the pass an argument I have heard frequently when I introduce this topic at dinner discussion with friends and colleagues, namely, that SINGULARITY will only apply to industrialized society and would be meaningless to much of the world- still not that far upstream from the darkest of ages – primitive cultures and economies. What we are about to discuss will reach and is already reaching into the very fabric of humanity. Where you live, your education, whether you live in London, Shanghai, New York, are a cave dweller in Afghanistan, or an indian living as your forefathers have for thousands of years along the Amazon will not have any bearing on this issue or that it will change EVERYONE’S life. One other thing, this may be the FINAL FRONTIER for religion as we know it! Your deep convictions will be confronted in a sense- once and for all! What is the soul? Is there a soul? Are humans that special? Last, there can never again be an argument about evolution. We have created an evolutionary process by ourselves. A new species is most probably emerging before our eyes and share the planet and the universe with us. What will it mean? Where will it go? Seemingly disparate sciences are merging into a SINGULARITY. Your politicians either have no idea of what is happening around them (probably most) or they have no idea of what to do with this. Some just do not want to scare a global society focusing on economies, health care, political and power wars, religious wars, turf battles, etc. Perhaps, our “leaders” are themselves not ready to confront a true event horizon that is not long off.

I make NO pretentions about really understanding SINGULARITY and I plan to invite some experts to join me (us) on video and radio to discuss this term and what it means for you and certainly for your children. You WILL see very clearly the birth and rapid evolution of the new species in your lifetime. You ARE seeing it! Your children will live and possibly confront it. Can we direct the evolution? What will be the characteristics of the new species? Will we live side by side? Are we humans to be dispensed with or is it possible we will merge with the SINGULARITY- our humanity jumping evolutionary bridges- creating a new consciousness and a physiology?

This from Wikipedia:

“Technological singularity refers to the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human intelligence through technological means. Since the capabilities of such intelligence would be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the occurrence of a technological singularity is seen as an intellectual event horizon, beyond which events cannot be predicted or understood. Proponents of the singularity typically state that an “intelligence explosion” is a key factor of the Singularity where superintelligences design successive generations of increasingly powerful minds.”

This hypothesized process of intelligent self-modification might occur very quickly, and might not stop until the agent’s cognitive abilities greatly surpass that of any human. The term “intelligence explosion” is therefore sometimes used to refer to this scenario.

Let me lay down some facts for you.

1.Computer technology is advancing at lighting speed. The computer that I am writing this on right now is enough to power many of the functions of small cities just 5-10 years ago Within a short period of time (a few years) computers can and will start building themselves and modifying/improving their own software.

2.The silicon chip which has been a limiting factor in speeding up computer ability will soon be replaced by nanotechnology based chips such as those made of a new substance- graphene. This will expand computer speed and capacity well beyond anything we could have conceived of just years ago.

3.These computer advances are not just U.S. dominated. The process is global and the changes are unstoppable because if you wanted to control them where would you do so? The process is NOT centralized. The changes are happening all over the place in real hypertime.

4.Science had begun a push long ago toward computer driven artificial intelligence (AI). There is still a lot to develop on this front but it may not be unreasonable to assume that combined with the progress we are making in neuroscience (science of the nerves and brain) that we will be able to reverse engineer from the human brain what reasoning and intellect are and gift it to our powerful new species- the computer. The speed with which this is happening is faster and faster-thanks to the computer itself so do not lull your self into this silly notion that it is a hundred years away. I am talking decades for the pieces to start coming together.

5.We have developed synthetic DNA- the genetic essence or building block of life. We are each day breaking human and other genetic codes down. We are more and more implementing genetic engineering into “fixing” disease. We can clone. You would be fooling yourself if you thought that we have not yet cloned a human. We should be able to “birth” a human and “build” their components. Sort of like when you buy a car and add options- blond, aggressive, male/female, strong Trapezius and Lats, etc. (You already knew that this would happen didn’t you). But, like our political and religious leaders, you are hoping it will go away or that it is “God’s Will”. It will NOT go away and this is NOT natural or God’s evolution!

6.There is already a movement to add organic components to computers. With synthetic DNA, we can begin the process of merging “humanity” and machine either by “rewiring” our brains to interface with computers OR by creating a synthetic “being” that is part DNA and part computer. (Does this remind you of any Terminator you know?). Already there are computers (admittedly primitive compared with what I am discussing but showing you the direction in which things are going) that can help the mind move a limb on a quadriplegic. The American soldier can have a contact lens fitted that displays important battlefield information, and Google has glasses that have displays in them. They are just not directly wired to your brain——–yet!

7.In 20- 50 years a single chip may (I believe will) have the memory AND the intellectual power of a MILLION humans. Each generation of these computers will then generate yet more efficient ones. What will our world be like? Will this new species co-exist with us? Tolerate us? Eliminate us? Will we in effect merge with the new species to create another “being”. Will we need to worry about pollution? We may not “breathe” or drink. Will we worry about whether there is enough food on the planet? We might not need food as we know it anymore. Will we have “reproduction” as we know it now? Will we have “eternal life”? This my friends is the “real deal”- not science fiction and not so far off in the future that you should not be thinking about it and that nations of the worlds should not be discussing it. This topic would finally give some meaning to the United Nations. This is happening so fast and from such a diverse base intellectually, geographically, politically, philosophically and scientifically that as of now there is NO control, NO brakes, and NO moral compass applied to its progression!

8.Along the way to SINGULARITY things will look pretty good. As all of this technology is developed we will see incredible artificial limbs and computerized nanotechnology pancreases. We will see stem cell and genetic therapies that will appear nearly miraculous thanks to better, faster computers that will be adding reason, memory and computing power to their caches. With great genius will come great advances? SINGULARITY could be inconceivably- miraculous. Or, it could signal the complete end of our species and values. How can you tell when we will have created “beings” millions of times more intelligent than we are? Will they have values? Will they help us?

So, again, I may be off the mark somewhat. I am not a computer guy or a geneticist or a biomechanical engineer, but you get the picture I hope. While politicians in this country are wasting time picking on stupid things like “free market” vs. socialism and religious leaders are worried about contraception and gay rights, the streets of the entire world- the fabric of our lives- is folding up behind us and will soon race ahead. This will be an entirely new world. The way I see it now, we and other industrialized countries are sitting back and letting it evolve on its own. The problem is that this evolution that is racing to a new global destiny is a revolution- SINGULARITY!